Hard Case Carrington
Hard Case Carrington is a short story by W. E. Johns which was published in Air Stories in October 1939. Set in 321 Squadron R.F.C. in the First World War, the story features one 2nd Lieutenant Tug Carrington. The story was subsequently adapted into a Second World War setting as The Coming of Carrington in the anthology Spitfire Parade which covers the exploits of Biggles and his R.A.F. 666 Squadron during the Battle of Britain. The main character of this later story retained the name Tug Carrington and he went on to become a recurrent character in the Biggles stories. Synopsis During the First World War, the R.F.C. GHQ creates a register of "star turns", talented pilots but ill-disciplined pilots who were difficult to manage. They would be posted to hard-pressed squadrons in the hope that they might do some good. Second Lieutenant Tug Carrington is posted to 321 Squadron. He does not create a good first impression but his C.O. had been warned not to judge by appearances. "Give him plenty of rope and he'll make things hum before he hangs himself." Plot (click on expand to read) Major Guy Smith-Norton, C.O. of 321 Squadron is warned by his brother-in-law, Bill, at R.F.C. GHQ, that he would shortly be receiving a new pilot, one Tug Carrington. Tug was from a list of pilots GHQ had compiled who were considered ill-disciplined and generally a problem. Rather than sending them home or applying the rule book, which would cause more harm than good, GHQ had decided to send them to hard-pressed squadrons on the front where it was hoped that they could do more damage to the enemy that they did to themselves. Tug arrives and predictably doesn't cut a good first impression. He is insubordinate, doesn't salute, talks back and insists on chewing gum. Smith-Norton assigns Tug to the flight of Captain "Mac" MacLaren, who takes him to the mess to introduce to the rest of the squadron. Things don't go well there either. The atmosphere becomes tense when Tug asks to drink milk with soda and some of the others smile. Worse still, another pilot makes an insensitive remark and Tug almost picks a fight with him. The weather clears and Mac wants to lead the pilots on a patrol. But Tug has other ideas. and Mac has the good sense to listen. The problem was they were fighting with little imagination. Their moves were too predictable: always taking off on patrol immediately the weather clears. The enemy has divined all this and would be waiting to ambush them and in the ensuing combat, the enemy often came off ahead--they could pick the time and place after all. Tug suggests that they wait for a few hours before departing on patrol. The enemy aircraft waiting for them would be running short of fuel. They would then expend their ammunition strafing trenches and other targets of opportunity before heading for home base. This should be the time 321 Squadron, arriving on scene with full tanks and ammunition, to mount their attack. Mac accepts Tug's suggestion. The resulting combat is a great success. Coming back to the mess for a celebratory drink, Tug asks for some ginger beer. This time, nobody smiles at him. Characters *Major Guy Smith-Norton *Captain "Mac" MacLaren *"Daddy" Grey *Bill Seton Armstrong *Tug Carrington - the main protoganist of this story, he has the exact same biographical background as Tug Carrington, the recurrent World War 2 and Air Police era character. Obviously, as this story is set during World War 1, it is not one and the same person. The Tug Carrington of the Biggles universe was about 18 in 1940. Aircraft *S.E.5 *Fokker Dr.I Places Visited Mentioned Research notes *Tug came from "Naval Eight". In The Coming of Carrington, Johns adds a footnote explaining that this is a famous coastal unit., No. 8 (Naval) Squadron, R.N.A.S., which served with distinction during the First World War. *Seton Armstrong's words describing GHQ's "star turns" idea are used again by Johns in Spitfire Parade when Colonel Raymond writes to Biggles about the purpose of 666 Squadron during World War 2, the only difference being that, for Biggles, it wouldn't be just one "star turn" but a whole squadron full of them! *The earlier and later characterisations of Tug Carrington are very similar but there are significant changes in some plot elements, some of which don't seem to have any plausible explanation. See here for details. References to the past Incongruities Chronology References Category:Short stories Category:Non-series short stories